DUSHANBE, May 7, Asia-Plus -- A roundtable meeting to discuss localization of Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) and translation of technical terms in the field of information and communications technologies (ICTs) from Russian into Tajik will be held in Dushanbe on May 8.   

The meeting, staged by Tajik Branch of Open Society Institute/Assistance Foundation (OSI/AF) in partnership with NGO “Center ICTs” and GIPI Public Foundation, aims to determine the most demanded software product in the Tajik language and consider issues related to setting up a working group, which will be engaged in localization of the selected software in the upcoming summer camp, which is annually conducted by the Information Program of Tajik Branch of OSI/AF.

Rukhshona Olimova, the media program coordinator, Tajik Branch of OSI/AF, said localized computer programs such as OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, OpenAdmin and KDE (graphic interface of Linux) will be presented during the meeting.  

A separate session will be dedicated to the issues of single terminology used in localization of software, she said.  

The meeting will brought together programmers, dealing with popularization and introduction of FOSS in the Tajik language, teachers from IT departments at a number of universities, as well as representatives from the ministry of education (MoE), NGOs and international organizations active in Tajikistan.  

Free Open Source Software (FOSS) -- software that is genuinely free to use, free to modify, and free to distribute in either original or modified form.  FOSS is increasingly becoming the global standard from operating systems to business software.  It can help you save money, obtain more secure systems, increase standards compliance, and build long-term investment protection so you can pass on the benefits.